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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. Don't make such a big ________________ out of small things.
  2. He hit the ball with his ________________.
  3. We had a fire ________________ at school today.
  4. Vegetables are growing on this ________________.
  5. I didn't ________________ up well this morning.
  6. She's an expert in the ________________ of medicine.
  7. The goat rested comfortably on a soft bed of ________________.
  8. The soldiers did ________________ on the parade ground every morning.
  9. In my city, the temperature is one ________________ above zero.
  10. A drowning man will clutch at a ________________.
  11. The stadium has a track around the football ________________.
  12. There's no middle ________________.
  13. A university ________________ is the ticket to a successful career.
  14. We need to ________________ with this problem right now.
  15. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  16. Friends gathered at the ________________ to remember him.
  17. To what ________________ are you interested in baseball?
  18. I need a ________________ to install the towel rack.
  19. Our cat is sitting in the apple tree, and the birds are making a ________________.
  20. The speedboat left a long ________________ behind it.
  21. Part of that ________________ required him to leave the singing group.
  22. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  23. It always has to be a ________________ man with them.
  24. I haven't touched a tennis ________________ in years.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. deal — a big deal
  2. racket — for tennis
  3. drill — a practice
  4. field — farmland
  5. wake — to stop sleeping
  6. field — a subject
  7. straw — dry grass
  8. drill — army training
  9. degree — temperature
  10. straw — to clutch at straws
  11. field — for sport
  12. ground — a position
  13. degree — from a university
  14. deal — to handle
  15. ground — crushed
  16. wake — before a funeral
  17. degree — an amount
  18. drill — the tool
  19. racket — a loud noise
  20. wake — a trail
  21. deal — an agreement
  22. ground — the earth
  23. straw — a straw man
  24. racket — for tennis

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com